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Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms are great for customer feedback and promotions, but how can you further integrate them into your own website or blog? This week’s mashup offers tips and tricks on how to make navigating between your site and social media sites smooth and harmonious.

You can direct customers to your Facebook with more than just a link now by embedding public posts into your website or blog. Above is a step-by-step guide on how to do it and what isn’t allowed to be done. The article also talks about creative ways marketers can play with Facebook’s embedded posts.

Would you say the added feature of embedding is effective for businesses to further create social puff?

Dennis: I love the idea of embedding Facebook posts on websites. I especially see this as a great way to drive engagement with customers who might not be aware that your company is active on Facebook. It’s a big win anytime you’re able to extend the interaction with your audience beyond just your website, as websites generally serve as a 1-way communication channel, whereas you can keep a conversation going on Facebook.

On the Twitter side of things, embedding tweets have also been used to enhance content, encourage engagement and create social proof. By simply copying and pasting a few codes, you can transform your webpage into a more interactive piece of marketing tool.

What are some tips in order to prevent your embedded posts from looking like a bit of a spam?

Dee: Use sparingly! I like seeing them when reading articles about what other people have to say about a hot topic, but if I wanted a list, I’d probably just do a twitter search and read it for myself.

Dennis: If you’re going to embed tweets on your website, I think it’s important that it’s relevant and that it adds value to the content of that page. For example, on a sales page, having an embedded testimonial will come across as more genuine than a copy and pasted one. On an event page, having a feed of event-related tweets can be a great way to stimulate buzz and encourage chatter. Be purposeful, and don’t just do it for the sake of doing it.

According to this infographic, customer service seems to trump the product itself. People want personalized experiences and timely and helpful responses to their feedback. Social media opens a new route to connect with these needs. Go beyond the humour and the promotions sometimes. Think about personalization and strengthening the feedback loop!

Speaking of the feedback loop, if a customer makes a public complaint on Facebook/Twitter, should managers ever respond via private message? (If so, how should the manager demonstrate to other followers that the complaint isn’t being ignored?)

Dennis: A public complaint should ALWAYS be addressed. Whether the manager decides to do so publicly or not depends on the situation, but they should at least publicly acknowledge that the complaint was received and that it will be dealt with. It’s important for their community to see that their feedback and opinions are valued. Remember, a complaint should always be looked at as an opportunity to convert an unhappy customer into a loyal customer. I’ve seen this happen on several occasions.

Dee: If a customer makes a public complaint on Twitter or Facebook, it’s important that the first message is public and an apology. From this, managers should encourage the customer to talk with them via DM/Message to further understand the situation.

Nick: Yes! To go a step further, community managers should always respond publicly, then take the conversation to a more private medium if need be. It’s important for your reputation to publicly demonstrate competency and empathy in the face of a complaint. Most importantly: Never erase negative feedback (unless it’s offensive somehow).

Amy: When customers leave a negative comment, it’s crucial to reply, at least partially, publicly. No negative comments should ever be deleted or ignored (even if you don’t agree). It is much more effective to showcase how you respond in negative and positive situations. Your customers are smart and they want to receive respectful an timely responses to their feedback, both good and bad. Reply honesty and professionally and you will always come out on top. Each complaint is an opportunity to redeem yourself, remember that!

What’s Monday Mashups without a little randomness? This article suggests creative ways brands can leverage the Breaking Bad series finale for fun and engaging content. Even if you’re not a fan or if none of the ideas apply to your business, take it as a creative exercise so you don’t miss cool opportunities for your brand!

Breaking Bad, yay or nay?

Dennis: If you do choose to do this, make sure that:

There’s context and that it fits the voice of your brand

You’re not infringing on any trademarks

You think through how it might affect the perception of your brand

If there’s any uncertainty about any of these points, then it’s probably not a good idea.

Dee: Breaking Bad – yay. On the marketing side of things – I’ve read some articles before the finale that any advertising spot (30 second ad) was going between 250-400k. It’s amazing what a great story can do for marketing! Breaking Bad has built up quite a following, and being a fan myself, I was quite satisfied with the ending!

All too often, people send me tweets asking, “Where can I take my vegetarian date tonight?”. So, here it is, my top 5 restaurants for veggie dishes in Vancouver.

1) The Acorn – This is the only full veggie restaurant on my list. I feel like just because I am a vegetarian, doesn’t mean I should have to be stuck to restaurants that ONLY offer veggie food. The food here is truly incredible and one that both vegetarians and carnivores will enjoy. www.theacornrestaurant.ca

2) East is East (Main st. or Broadway locations are each awesome) – Here’s a tip, go and get The Feast! This is basically the most delicious food you’ve ever had, and all you can eat. The flavours coming out of this place are truly to die for. www.eastiseast.ca

3) La Taqueria – Any of their vegetarian tacos are killer. I love the simple Frijoles (re-fried beans) or Rajas con crema (corn and peppers in a creamy sauce) with habanero salsa (the spiciest). Get 6 for the price of 4 on Wednesday and $3 beer on Thursday. http://lataqueria.ca/

4) Nuba – All I have to say, is NAJIB’S SPECIAL! Just do it and don’t ask questions. Order a glass of Blasted Church wine while you’re at it. www.nuba.ca

5) Cafe D’Afrique – This hole in the wall Ethiopian restaurant on Broadway not only has tons of VEGAN options, it’s also mostly gluten free. If you have not had Ethiopian food, it is very unique and served with this spongy buckwheat bread. You eat with your hands, and it is a truly unique experience. I would give this place a try. It doesn’t look like much but it’s worth a visit! www.cafedafrique.com

I have a theory for what makes campaigns go viral (or at least be very good!) It’s part insight into current trends on how/where people engage, part insight into what people care about and lastly a good reason to share. This week’s Monday Mashups looks into articles that will help you get started on finding and utilizing insight.

Let’s start by learning from the greatest. You may have already seen many of the campaigns in the article but read and watch them again. This time, think about what the companies and advertisers saw in their consumer’s needs and interests. It’s this understanding of what people care about that make them so successful.

Reading research on your industry is a great way to know what is up and coming. A big thanks to Adrian Ver at Noise Digital for sharing the above article with us. The article looks into what kinds of tactics are being used and what kind of content is shared on mobile. An interesting highlight is that location-based marketing in restaurants grew by 11% in the past year. Seeing strong growth in a relatively new tactic (only 27% of restaurants are using it) could be a sign to jump on this as the swell is coming. But then again, is it right for your brand? Let’s ask the experts!

Do you agree that seeing growth like this is a sign to really consider location-based marketing? Or is this only relevant to brands that have “hip” and “trendy” as a part of their brand identity? Could it be too soon to say with this data?

Nick: At this stage, only trendier, urban businesses are likely to get any benefit from location-based marketing, but there are exceptions. For example, if you own a small town coffee shop, if people from urban centres are passing through or visiting, it may still be worth running a Foursquare special, or encouraging people to check in. It’s a low cost way to gain more exposure for your brand, so why not try?

Promotional marketing success is all about the reach. Reach in today’s world is all about sharing. We all like to share things that are funny, or touching, or scary, or simply makes us look good. This article uses cases and examples to really dig into another way of looking at it. Talking less about your brand and more about your consumers can get people sharing too.

As a consumer yourself, when are you most motivated to share?

Amy: For me to share something, if it’s a contest, the prize has to be so good that I know my friends will be interested in it too. If it’s content, it needs to be something that I personally identify with, that I know will be appreciated by my friends and my social network. Things that are clever and witty ways work for me.

Nick: I’m a little picky about what I share over my social media channels, so I really need to believe in the business to vouch for them online. Unfortunately, there aren’t any short-cuts to get me–or anyone with a similar personality–to share your content online. Either create an extremely badass contest or piece of content, or (more importantly) be so good at what you do that people feel compelled to talk about what you’re offering.

Where is the best spot for ads on a website? Just how important is the content below the fold? It may surprise you but, on average, readers actually spend more time reading after the fold than before. The spot where ads have the highest viewability is right before the fold. This is important information if you want to maximize your return on ad spend.

1. Photoshop Express – This a fantastic app for making minor edits to photos. If you prefer a natural look to your photos, then you’ll probably enjoy exposure and sharpening features. Also, the upgrade that includes a noise reduction feature is fantastic (we all know how grainy mobile photos can get, especially in lower light).

2. Camera+ – This is my favourite editing app, especially when I’m looking to up the sharpness and contrast in urban photos. There are a number of quality photo filters and they recently included the option to blend them together. “So Emo” and “Lo-Fi” are my current favourites.

3. VSCO Cam – This is another fantastic app with filters that lean toward lower contrast and a more faded look. Personally, I love VSCO for food and portrait shots. The black and white filters are particularly nice.

4. Lenslight – If you’re in the mood to try some more creative editing, Lenslight is a great way to play with lighting effects. Everything from sun flares to vibrant light streaks. Also, you’re able to layer multiple effects with ease. I find that Lenslight’s effects work best on shots that already have some interesting lighting happening (such as a sun flare or city lights at night). Get creative and try it out!

5. Over – Ever wonder how people add words and quotes to their photos? This is often the app they’re using. Over features a wide selection of trendy typefaces, and some old classics as well.

Snapchat is a photo messaging app where you can send pictures to your contacts that can only be viewed once for a limited time. Mostly reserved for impromptu snaps of ridiculousness among friends but a yogurt shop in New York creatively used it for a coupon promotion. To say the least I’m inspired by it but the article doesn’t mention how well the promotion performed. Do you think Snapchat could work for your brand?

Twitter ran a study to see if promotional tweets actually increase sales. They did this by correlating exposure to promoted tweets to purchase data taken from loyalty card programs. You can see Twitter’s release of the results here. Their conclusion is that exposure to promoted tweets does improve sales and enagagement improves sales even more. There are quite a few limitations to the study that the Social Media Today article mentions. Such as the extension of the results beyond loyaty card holders and to other types of brands.

This study brings up a metric related question I’ve had for a while. When it comes to getting followers, is it about quality over quantity? Assuming the target market is aligned, more followers, means more exposure, means more sales. Another view is that quality (likes, conversation, engagement) means a deeper connection, stronger brand image and that will bring followers itself.

Dennis: I will always stress quality over quantity when it comes to social media. While it’s great for a business to have a large following, if that’s the only metric that matters to them, then their social media goals are quite one-dimensional. Rather than just focusing on number of followers, a better measurement of success is the number of engaged users, and number of mentions and interactions on their accounts. It’s way more valuable to have a small, but highly engaged audience than to have a large, but unengaged audience. That being said, having a larger audience means that your message will have a greater reach, so ideally there needs to be a balance of both quality and quantity. Building quantity through organic means may take some time, however you can bet that there’s a good chance that those following you are high value or potential customers. Remember, social media is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Take time to build a highly engaged community and a quality follower base, and nurture that relationship by providing value to your followers.

Thinking about increasing readership with a guest blogger? Remember to consider all the angles. From acquiring the right one, to content development, to keeping the momentum after the post, this article will help you make the most of it.

By the way two of our kernels have blogs themselves! You may know Dee from Gastrofork and Dennis from Pangcouver.

Do you agree with this illustrator’s approach? Is your internal decision making process for community management like this?

Nick: That’s actually a fabulous flow-chart. Obviously each situation is going to have its own nuances, but that approach is a solid point of reference – especially for people just starting to try their hand at community management. In particular, I like the point about adding relevant people to your network (I especially recommend creating lists on Twitter for this purpose).

Just like that, 6 months have come and gone. Interning at Popcorn has definitely been an experience. I got to witness the good, the bad and the ugly. With that being said, for my last Friday 5 I’m sharing the inside scoop about being a Kernel.

1) Always be on your social media A-game. From knowing each social platform, to strategy and analytics – it’s status quo to understand the trends in the world of social media. My research routine consisted of social media blogs, twitter streams, scrolling through feedly and more. It was sure time consuming.

2) Every other team meeting consisted of delicious meals & weeknight drinks. New clients = more food. It was exhausting. I was always eating – it felt like “Freshman 15″. Although, I guess that’s expected when you work for a boutique agency specializing in the food industry.

3) Research research research. I took on a lot of different research tasks. One in particular though made me realize just how much you can learn about people by creeping their social media channels. It wasn’t stalking… it was all for an awesome marketing strategy, of course!

5) I developed the habit of food-photography. It’s all about the perfect angles, which filters are best, and the most effective hashtags. I now definitely feel more confident on how to optimize my Instagram photos.

The thing I love most about marketing is that you can see in everything and learn and apply concepts all the time. Even things like the Suicide Hotline and Miley Cyrus’ latest antics. The problem is, once you start seeing things like a marketer, don’t think that you can put your feet in the shoes of an average consumer ever again.

A big rule in suicide hotline operating is “don’t give advice.” Why? Because it’s not about you and what you would do. The article serves as a vivid reminder that “we often focus on what we want out of a conversation” rather than what the other side wants. “It’s not about your product or service. It’s about what it means to the people who might use it; how it can make their lives better, or how other people are using it to improve their businesses.”

Perhaps there was more to Miley Cyrus’ controversial performance at the VMAs than just getting attention. Maybe it was really about positioning herself to be more targeted for the older demographic. The article argues that by going so over the top now, any new positioning activities she does later will be less shocking and therefore more accepted. In my opinion, not all “brands” have to take such drastic measures. Justin Timberlake is a good example. He transitioned successfully from boy band heartthrob to a respected solo artist and actor by taking small strategic steps in the right directions. Nick Lachey didn’t.

Is your brand the helper, the insider, the confidante or none of the above? Stand out in the minds of your customers by being known as the brand that _____. The approach is rather than filling the blank with your competitive advantage, fill it with the social role you want to play. The article’s division of the personas can be a little controversial if you believe that brands should be filling the 3 roles to varying degrees.

What aspects do you look at when defining a brand’s persona? Do you agree with the article?

Nick: People respond more positively to a more human voice than impersonal communication. After all, nobody wants to engage with a computer or faceless bureaucrat. The idea that people identify with specific enduring archetypes is gaining momentum as storytelling is a method of transmitting information we’re very familiar with (even from a young age). Tap into that power and make it easy for your audience to connect with your brand. Figure our what your brand represents and use that personality as a guide as you create content and converse with customers online.

Amy: It takes a bit of time to define a brand’s persona. It takes a bit of tweaking and trying out different things until you find something that just feels right. Consider what kind of energy you want to bring to your friends and fans and start creating content that encompasses that energy.Listening to your fans is also a great way to figure out what direction you should go in. When you post, see what they respond well too, and keep posting more of that!

Which platforms are men and women using and how do we differ? What do women really think of their Facebook friends? Learn this and more in our infographic pick of the week!

I was pretty surprised that men are on YouTube almost double the length of women. Ignoring Pinterest, should brands consider these gender differences when choosing their channel? Or is it irrelevant as the content defines what channel is best?

Amy: 100% DON’T BE EVERYWHERE unless it makes sense for you. This is obvious isn’t it? Pick one or two channels, do them really well. That’s it. Don’t stretch yourself too thin just because you feel like you should.

When you have the world at your fingertips, it’s difficult to sift through the noise of memes, the latest big Youtube video or an article that you know was made for link bait. Here are a couple suggestions of sites you should be visiting – which I frequent almost daily.

1. Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner

Forget TED talks, learn and get inspired by the best at Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner. They have over 2000 free videos and podcasts that feature people like Marissa Mayer, Guy Kawasaki, Sheryl Sandberg, Jack Dorsey to name a few. There are so many topics to choose from, you’ll be listening to talks for hours.

2. Chineasy

Been meaning to pick up a new language? Me too. Learn how to write and recognize basic Chinese symbols with Chineasy. The mixture of visual cues with the symbols makes it a snap to learn a new word every day.

3. Brit + Co

If you’re looking for great ideas in the DIY department, new recipes and the latest tech, look no further than Brit + Co. Touted as the “Martha Stewart of Silicon Valley”, this clean, creative and bright website covers pretty much anything for your inner glamorous nerd.

4. Foodgawker

What list by a food blogger would be complete without a recipe finder?!Foodgawker is my go-to for recipes. Every drool worthy photo leads you back to the recipe and it’s easy to search recipes by categories or even by ingredient.

5. 90s Button

Finally, since it’s Friday – let’s hang loose. I recently came across the 90s Button and have indulged in my guilty 90s musical pleasures. Complete with a crazy background and MC Hammer gifs. Long live the 90s.

Take it easy this labour day and check out these new infographics on social media. If you haven’t noticed, we usually do one infographic pick of the week but the long weekend calls for something special.

Apparently, every day, infographic production increases 1%. Why? According to the infographic there are 9 great reasons for why businesses use them. Perhaps more interestingly, there are large cultural differences in how interest for the format is growing.

You may already know that 18-29 year olds are the most engaged in social media. But did you know usage across income and education levels hardly differ? The status of social media can change so quickly so who knows how long these facts will hold true. In the meanwhile however, for a snapshot of current online participation, check out the link above.

Saving the best for last, regarding Facebook’s newest changes in their promotion policies, this infographic intelligently breaks down everything you need to know about the two options. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out our latest Quick News.

“Write what you know.” – Mark Twain. As an undergraduate student intern at Popcorn, what do I know best? It might be sad to say but, it’s school. So, from the depths of the vaults at business school, here are the 5 most used acronyms from my marketing classes. 4 of the 5 were used in every marketing class I have ever taken. Despite my “greenness” to the real world, I’d like to believe these concepts are pretty important to a business’s success.

1. SMART Goals – For All Goal Setting

Specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, timely. These should be the criteria of every goal or objective you set. “Increase sales” is not enough. By how much? In which areas? By when? What are you going to do to measure your success/failures? SMART goals are more likely to be understood, motivating, and therefore achieved.

2. STP – For Getting Your Customers to “Get” You

Segment, target, position. You can’t be everything to everyone. Most businesses have a good idea of who their target market is. Or do they? A restaurant in Downtown could say they are targeting young adults working in the area. But what about their time sensitivity? Price sensitivity? Their need for consistency versus change even. All these identifiers help your business cater to the right needs and helps you find the right methods of promotion.

Divide up your market into as detailed segments as you can and choose the ones with the most potential. Then figure out what they want, how you can give it to them and how you can show them that you have what they want. It’s easier to make what people want, than to make people want what you have. (I wonder if the same can be said about dating.)

3. AIDA – For Communications that Work

Attention, interest, desire, action. Get the most of your communications. Every message should activate your audience’s attention, interest and desire. Every message should also make the desired action as clear and as simple as possible. Think of the best movie trailers. It’s easy to see AIDA in them. Have you ever seen one with neither a title, release date nor website? I hope not.

4. SWOT Analysis – For Understanding Where You are At and Where You Can Go

SWOT is just a reminder to take a look at both the internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) environment of your business. These should be considered in goal setting, evaluating the potential of market segments and a whole bunch of other decisions. Keep your eyes peeled.

5. 4 P’s of Marketing – For Making a Great and Desired Offering

Product, place, price, promotion. Of all the things that make up the consumer perception, these 4 factors are the only things that you can control. Marketing, getting people to support you, is more than just promotion, sales and advertising. If you’re ever wondering how you can sell more, look at how these 4 factors are meeting the needs of your consumers. Get creative too. “Product” isn’t just about the features and appearances. What is an appropriate assortment? With pricing, also think about relative pricing and how that may be influencing decisions and expectations.

How many of these acronyms actually apply to real life practice? I’m in the process of finding out. Marketing is part art and part science. Sometimes it’s about the statistics, the pilot tests or the frameworks made of acronyms. Others times, it’s just grasping empathy and one’s philosophies of doing business. My guess is that the answer is “it depends”.